Unzip Me eyeing BC Turf Sprint

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Unzip Me, winner of five stakes for female turf sprinters, is a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint against males Nov. 6, trainer Marty Jones said earlier this week.

Unzip Me won her most recent start, the $100,000 Sen. Ken Maddy Handicap against fillies and mares over six furlongs on turf at Hollywood Park on Sept. 30. The Grade 3 Maddy was her second consecutive graded stakes win, preceded by the Grade 3 Royal North Stakes at Woodbine.

The $1 million BC Turf Sprint is run over five furlongs on turf.

“If she could win a race like that, she’d be worth a lot of money,” Jones said. “We haven’t made any decisions yet.”

Owned by the partnership that includes owner-breeders John Harris and Don Valpredo, Unzip Me has won 9 of 15 starts and $504,413. Jones said Unzip Me also is under consideration for the $100,000 California Cup Distaff over six furlongs on turf for statebred females Oct. 30.

Twirling Candy gets back on track

Trainer John Sadler said that Twirling Candy has resumed galloping after finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes on Oct. 2 and remains a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 6 for owner Jenny Craig.

Following the Goodwood, the colt’s first loss in five starts, Twirling Candy underwent “a battery of tests that were negative,” Sadler said.

Zenyatta gallops on training track

Zenyatta galloped 1 1/4 miles on the training track Saturday, the second consecutive day she has been exercised on the backstretch half-mile track.

Zenyatta was given a slow jog for six furlongs in a clockwise direction on the outside part of the track before she stood still for a few minutes toward the outside rail under exercise rider Steve Willard. She then galloped 2 1/2 circuits of the track.

The undefeated winner of 19 races, Zenyatta will make her next start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6. She won the Grade 1 Lady’s Secret Stakes at Hollywood Park on Oct. 2.

◗ The Oak Tree at Hollywood Park meeting will have four days of afternoon racing later this week. Following Monday’s nine-race program, there is no racing on Tuesday and Wednesday, though there is simulcasting racing Wednesday. From Thursday through Sunday, racing begins each day at 1 p.m.